Ada Coordinator

All of you incoming students should have received this –

Dear New Smith Student:

Congratulations on your admission to Smith!  We at Information Technology Services (ITS) are sending this message to tell you a few important things about using a computer on campus next fall.

(1) Smith uses Novell GroupWise for email.  If you already know your GroupWise username and password, you may have noticed that you received a duplicate of this message in your GroupWise mailbox.  If you haven’t tried out your GroupWise account yet, here’s how to get started:

- Open a web browser and go to the Smith homepage (http://www.smith.edu).
- Click on the GroupWise Web button in the lower right corner of the window.
- In the first GroupWise window, click Go.
- In the GroupWise login window, enter your GroupWise username and password.

Your username is typically your first initial followed by the first 7 letters of your last name.  For example, Anne Reyerson’s username would probably be “areyerso”.  There are some exceptions to this rule because of duplicate names, so if it doesn’t work for you, call the User Support Center at 413-585-4487 for help.

Your starting password is the first 8 numbers in your 9-digit Smith ID number.
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(2) If you are bringing a computer to campus and will be living in a Smith residence house, be sure to read this webpage that describes the minimum hardware requirements for computers connected to the Smith Residence Network (ResNet):  http://www.smith.edu/its/services/resnet.html
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(3) If you will be living in a Smith residence house, you will be required to complete an on-line process called Cisco Clean Access in order to access the Internet.

Clean Access registers your computer on the Smith ResNet, and for Windows users, it also scans your computer to ensure that all required software is installed.  You will not be granted access to the network if any required software is missing, including:

- Critical Windows updates:  To find out if you are missing any critical Windows updates, open Internet Explorer and go to Tools, Windows Update.  When the update window opens, click on the Express button to get any missing high-priority updates.

- McAfee VirusScan for Windows:  You can download a free copy of McAfee VirusScan from the Smith software download site:  http://www.smith.edu/smithsoftware.  Note that you will need your GroupWise username and password to log on to the download site.

IMPORTANT:  If you have any other anti-virus software besides McAfee VirusScan installed on your Windows computer, be sure to un-install it before installing VirusScan.
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(4) For lots more information about using technology at Smith, check out the TechNotes website for students:  http://www.smith.edu/its/technotes.
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If you have any questions about this message, please contact the User Support Center at 413-585-4487, or send email to 4its@email.smith.edu.  We look forward to seeing you in September.

Regards, ITS

You are already recieving emails and important information in your Groupwise account.  Check it and check it often.

which reminds me to tell you, that if you are ever stranded in Noho it is totally worth it to have AAA.  For some back story, my car is 13 years old and I drive it back and forth to Greenfield every day of the school year, so I know all about car care in this area.  AAA rocks, but I must also tip my hat to the Firestone on King St.  I am devotedly loyal to Ernie’s Garage, who do almost all of my car repairs, but after three years of me telling people that they are so busy that I can’t get an appointment for a few days — so this time it was the Firestone that saved me.  The downside of having such an old car is that it is hard to get parts for it.  The upsides are that the parts don’t cost anything once I find them and that I don’t have a car payment and my excise tax is super low.

It is quiet here in the Deans Office.  I see most of you have turned in forms for Peer Mentors and that many of you have filled out the tan Advising sheet, which is a good thing, I have to say.  Peer  Mentors are all matched, and most of you should have gotten emails telling you about each other.  Some of you are held up by the fact that I got some late volunteers, which is great for you because I can make better matches and people don’t have to share mentors with 2-4 other people, but bad for me because I have to rematch a bunch of you.   

I have changed my schedules to being in the office in the afternoon, but I am always available via email or by appointment.  If you need something don’t hesiatate to ask and I will try to make it happen.

Happy Monday everyone.

I have put together a little survey for the incoming Ada Comstock Scholars here.

Thank you ahead of time for filling it out.  Each group of incoming students is so different it is hard to remember all of the challenges you are facing, even though it was three short years ago that I was there myself, laughing, crying and moving to MA.

It should only take about 10 minutes at the most, and it will allow me to know what information to rush to your already overwhelmed lives and email boxes.  As always, if you need anything, send me an email at halexand@email.smith.edu.